learning from the past: building the school of arts movement in australia. an adfas in the community...
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Learning from the Past:
Building the School of Arts movement in Australia
An ADFAS in the Community ProjectMarlena Jeffery
Helen Creagh
What is ADFAS?
The Association of Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (ADFAS)
AIMS:
The promotion and advancement of aesthetic education, the cultivation and study of the decorative and fine arts, and the preservation of our cultural and artistic heritage.
www.adfas.org.au
QLD:CairnsRockhamptonSunshine CoastNoosaBrisbaneBrisbane RiverToowoombaGold Coast
ACT:Canberra
NSW:ByronArmidaleNarrabriMudgeeOrangeDubboPokolbinNewcastleSconeSydneyKuring-gaiBlue MountainsCamdenBowralShoalhavenMolonglo PlainsRiverina
VIC:GeelongMelbourneYarraMornington PeninsulaCentral VictoriaMurray River
TAS:Launceston Hobart
SA:Adelaide
ADFASAustralian Decorative and Fine Arts Societies
There are 35 Societies around Australia
ADFAS in the Community
- Local ADFAS Society
Supports: Young Arts : education and development of young people in the local community
* Church Recording: documenting the fabric and contents of local churches
* Schools of Arts/Mechanics’ Institutes Project: research and documentation of social history and buildings in this movement
* These are National projects endorsed by the Association
- Association of ADFAS
Supports:Patricia Robertson Fund: education and development for conservators of cultural heritage material Opera Australia: Schools Program
Produces: ARTLIFE - ADFAS annual magazine
The Schools of Arts and Mechanics’ Institutes Movement………. circa 1800
AIMS:
“The diffusion of literary, scientific and other useful
knowledge and the literary advancement of members
and the community generally, through the delivery of
lectures, a library of reference and circulation, a
reading room and the formation of classes.”
Where it all began……
EdinburghWatt Institution and School of Arts
Established 1821
George Birkbeck Scottish engineer
The movement was founded on ideas he put forward at the turn of the 18/19th centuries
Mechanics’ Institute Hobart, est.1827 Known then as the Van Diemen’s Land Mechanics’ Institute
Australia’s first institution
Bookplate, Hobart MISee cautionary information for readers in the ‘Note’
What’s in a name?
Qld: School of Arts NSW: School of Arts, Mechanics’
Institute, Literary Institute Vic: Mechanics’ Institute, Athenaeum Tas: Mechanics’ Institute, Institute, Free
Library SA: Institute WA: Agricultural Hall, Mechanics’
Institute
Also (not State specific): Miners’ Institute Soldiers’ Memorial School of
Arts (post WW1 – 1920s)
Community Hall ….. Public Hall ……
These are often a later change; name may be related to government funding
Contributors The first volunteers from ADFAS Canberra country members Preparing accounts for Bombala, Braidwood, Bungendore,
Goulburn, Queanbeyan, and Young Exchanging ideas; comparing notes
The first contributions…..
How to do this…. The project guidelines
Layout and content
Finding information
Copyright
Acknowledgements and References
Presentation plan Suggestions about information to be
included Where to look…….. Local or Regional Library Local Historical Society Local Council Local Identities; building custodians ‘Google’ Trove
Information related to use of material
Minute BookSchool of ArtsBungendore NSW
Page 1 records the first meeting where the decision was taken to establish a School of Arts
Friday 8th June 1888
Also….. Names were put forward
Moved and carried that
- These comprise the Provisional Committee
- Ladies be admitted to Membership
Record held by the National Library of Australia MS663
Trove is an online resource trove.nla.gov.au
Access Trove anywhere there is a computer
Shows information held by libraries in Australia
Your librarian will assist you if you need help
Inter-library loans might be possible
Trove Tells you about… Books Maps Photos Articles Newspapers Archives ..…… and more
Making the Institutions…. and their buildings
BenefactorBerry NSW
Community support:Laying the Foundation Stone 1916Abermain NSW UoN Collections
Committee 1951Uppera Coomera Qld
Centenary Celebrations 2012: Eumundi QldNotecard depicting 100 years of activities
Fund-raising: Queen Competitions
Historical Society Cooroora Qld
Aims of the Institution: 1900“The mental and moral improvement and the rational
recreation of members through the establishment of a
library and reading room, and by the provision of lectures,
the formation of classes, the maintenance of recreational
facilities, and by such other means as seem desirable to
the Committee.” New Lambton Mechanics’ Institute
On the cultivation of the Fine Arts with Practical Illustrations
On the study of Physical Sciences
On the Economy and Variety of Nature, illustrated by the hydro-oxygen microscope
On the Progress of Civilisation as connected with the extension of Christianity
On the Physiology of the Senses
On Free Inquiry in relation to the natural Sciences
On Pneumatics
On Harmony and the Harmonious results of well-spent time
On Vegetable Physiology
Lectures in the program at the Hobart Mechanics’ Institute 1840s
Should Members of Parliament be paid?
Would it be advantageous to disannex the colony from the British throne?
Is the intellect of the sexes equal?
Should the franchise be extended to women?
A Bill for the better protection of Aborigines in this Colony.
Has the stage a moral or immoral tendency?
Whether the gold discoveries of Australia have retarded, or otherwise, its manufacturing industry.
Program of debates at the Literary Institute Bombala NSW 1870s
National Library of Australia MS 6373
Library interiorsNewcastle School of ArtsEst.1870Newcastle Regional Library Hunter Photobank
c.1900 ◄
1935 ▲ ►
The Reading Room
▲ New Lambton NSW est. 1900 University of Newcastle (UoN) Cultural Collections
◄ West Maitland NSW est. 1854 Maitland Mercury 7 January 1933
Invoice from London supplier for Reading Room material
June 15 1914
Bombala NSWLiterary Institute
National Library of Australia MS 6373
Lower Hunter Region NSW: Bookstock of institutions up to ca 1914Date of Establishment of Institution also shown
Charlestown Literary Institute Est 1877 1 443
East Maitland Mechanics’ Institute Est 1859 4 800Hamilton Mechanics’ Institute Est 1861 5
080Hinton School of Arts Est 1869
420Largs School of Arts Est 1875
587Merewether School of Arts Est 1882 4 210Newcastle School of Arts Est 1870 25 222New Lambton Mechanics’ Institute Est 1900 2 239Paterson School of Arts Est 1868 1 018Stockton Literary Institute Est 1894 3 000 Waratah School of Arts Est 1865 1 545West Maitland School of Arts Est 1854 13 301Woodville School of Arts Est 1876 750
Science Success and Soirees : Heaton, Preston, and Rabbitt. Newcastle History Monograph No 14 p.112 Newcastle Region Library ca 1990
1888: Extract from a list of books held in the library of the Burrowa Mechanics’ InstituteBoorowa NSW
Published in the local newspaper
The Burrowa News Friday 31 August 1888
Acknowledgements Our thanks to the volunteers from ADFAS Societies who have contributed to this project
Much of the information and many of the photographs included in this presentation are from their contributions
ADFAS in the Community Schools of Arts and Mechanics’ Institutes Project
www.adfas.org.au